Mairi McDonald

Scottish international Mairi McDonald moved to the Chiefs In November 2022 having previously spent all of her club career back in her native homeland.

The young scrum-half was partly brought in to boost Susie Appleby’s options in the No.9 jersey, particularly as England’s Claudia MacDonald was still on rest break after the Rugby World Cup and Brooke Bradley was alsoy recovering from a hamstring tear.

McDonald, however, is a proven performer and has already nine Test caps to her name.

Introduced to rugby at the age of 13, the Glasgow-born back joined Hillhead Jordanhill whom she has played for ever since, helping them to the Scottish title in 2017/18.

She progressed up the Scotland age-grade training programmes and received her first call up in 2008 for the Scotland Women’s 7s team in Kazan. Two years later she was selected for Scotland Women XVs, earning her first Test cap against Spain.

Appleby said: “We’re delighted to have Mairi on board. She’s very energetic, very quick and has very good distribution. I’ve no doubt she will be a great addition to the squad and will bring plenty in terms of both quality and experience.”